The Sox.
Nothing is a bigger impediment than a cheap owner.
this is quite a hilarious statement about a team with the 4th highest payroll last year, and have had the #1 highest average payroll since the year 2000.
if the red sox have cheap ownership, then what does that make the Baltimore Orioles ownership? The Marlins ownership? or Oakland?
This is like a rich guy complaining about having to fly commercial instead of private.
I agree. Sox ownership is about the complete opposite of cheap. They have no problem spending money.
But, that does have limits and ownership will spend the most money in the league if it means making a run at a title but will scale back(under the tax line), while still spending gobs of cash in years where they are rebuilding. That's not cheap, it's smart.
And it's worked well given 4 titles in 15 years.
And yet if they have to let one of the best young players in the league walk because they can't "afford" to pay him, despite the fact that the ticket prices go up year after year and they've always been one of the top earning teams in the league, the "cheap" moniker will nonetheless be well deserved.
Do the Dodgers or Yankees run into these problems? Can't recall hearing about that.
I understand needing to clean the cap sheet for the team to remain sustainable, but any time you're forced to let top young talent leave because of financials and you aren't constrained by a hard cap, that's an ownership spending issue, plain and simple.
Clearly, you don't follow the Sox.
First, Betts is an outfielder, you called him an infielder earlier. Second, it's Betts that wants to hit free agency because he thinks he will max out his next contract, not that the Sox don't want to sign him now. Third, it appears to get under the tax line they will be trading Price, not Betts. Betts leaving is no sure thing right now, especially if Price is moved.
As for the Dodgers and Yankees, they haven't been outspending the Sox and haven't been winning titles. So not sure doing what they do is the smartest thing to do.
As for the price increase, the demand for tickets are there. As long as the demand is there and people are willing to buy tickets, prices will go up. While it's not a great PR move to do it in a year you are trying to cut salary so that in future years you can spend like crazy and win another title, it has nothing to do with being cheap. Greedy, maybe. Cheap, no.